Professors
by facepalmicate
Summary: Hermione Granger is returning to Hogwarts, this time as a professor. Now that she is Severus' equal, how will his feelings towards her change? 'She appeared directly outside the gates; the black metal looming over her. It was time to go back to school.'
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Flickerphile, sorry it's so short, I promise the next chapter will be longer!**

Hermione had never really known what she was going to when she left school. She had always just worried about getting the results that she knew would get her a good job in the end. But she had never quite figured out _what_ job. Of course, she had fantisised about being an auror or a healer, etc, but when Minerva had approached her two months ago, she didn't know why she hadn't thought to become a teacher before. She loved teaching people, it made her feel superior, although that wasn't what she told Minerva obviously. She had previously been working in the department of mysteries doing things that she wasn't at a liberty to discuss. In fact she couldn't, they had charmed her so that her tongue wouldn't move when she thought of talking about it. Not that she would say anything anyway.

Many people asked her if working in the department of mysteries was nerve-wracking, and she always told them the truth – it was, a little, but nothing she couldn't handle. But it was nothing compared to how nervous she felt about returning to Hogwarts. It just held so many precious memories, and what if her new experiences ruined it for her? What if she was a terrible teacher? What if no one liked her? She cringed at her own thoughts. She was Hermione Granger; she didn't need to think of such petty things. As she bustled around her tiny London flat gathering her things and packing them neatly into her purse, she dearly wished that she could have taken the Hogwarts Express. For nostalgic reasons and also she was trying to put off going. Minerva had remained adamant that she come to the castle 5 days before the start of term to settle in and meet all of the other teachers. She sighed, gathering her cloaks about her and clutching her purse tightly before apparating with a swish of material.

She appeared directly outside the gates; the black metal looming over her. It was time to go back to school.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Almost immediately Hermione ran into someone. She had hoped to avoid any life - or dead for that matter – form so that she could hide in some deserted corridor for several moments to compose herself. She wasn't looking (as she was too busy staring at the ground and feeling nauseous) and walked smack, bang into someone's chest, briefly inhaling the scent of fire and mint. Her head snapped up and she looked into the reproachful eyes of one, Professor Severus Snape.

"I was wondering how long it would be before you returned Miss Granger. Are there not enough books to suffice your need? Or were you just pathetic enough to come back and relive your glory days?" He sneered. For a moment Hermione just stood, absolutely gob-smacked as his words sunk in.

"Pardon _me_ Professor, you obviously haven't been informed that I have just taken up the post of Charms Mistress and that I will be staying here for at least the remainder of the year." She retorted. She huffed as he stalked away, not even having the courtesy to look embarrassed or even slightly remorseful.

She soon found herself sitting in the Headmistress's office, slightly more relaxed with a cup of hot tea in her hands. Minerva (as Hermione had been insisted to call her) beamed at her from behind the large desk. Hermione would have looked dwarfed by it, but Minerva looked comfortable, commanding respect from every angle. Albus Dumbledore was snoring cheerfully in his portrait, actually looking at ease for the first time in months. She had passed him a few times at his portrait at the ministry and he had looked very stressed thanks to the marriage laws that had threatened to pass recently. Hermione brought her attention back to Minerva who was now handing her her class schedule and keys for her quarters.

"You'll be staying on the fourth floor, two doors down from the Library." Minerva said with a glint in her eye.

"Oh thank you Minerva! You're too kind." Hermione dazzled. She gathered all of her things once more and headed to the room. Having passed it almost daily when she was a student at Hogwarts, she found it easily and squealed when she entered it. It was beautifully and thoughtfully decorated, thick silk of the richest greens, blues and purples hung from the ceiling, creating a tent-like feeling and the walls were lined with hundreds of volumes. She flopped onto her four-poster bed that was covered in soft white, Egyptian cotton sheets wriggling in them, feeling at home at once.

A knock at the door halted her appreciative wriggling and she hopped off the bed like a small child to fling open the door. Severus had to admit to himself that she looked amusing but also rather sexy with her cheeks flushed and her head mused. He wasn't attracted to her; he was just noticing her features.

"Hello Professor Snape, how can I help you?" She had been determined to remain pissed off with him but she couldn't stop herself from grinning idiotically. He cleared his throat uncomfortably before speaking.

"I believe that our colleagues may find it peculiar if we do not address each other by our first names, _Hermione_." He said with some effort.

"Very well _Severus_." She replied, repressing giggles that threatened to ruin her already very shaky composure.

"Minerva asked me to give you this," He said, holding out a package wrapped in brown paper. "It just arrived from Mister Weasley." He sneered as he passed it to her.

"Thank you Severus," She whispered, staring decidedly at the floor, mortified that Ronald had sent her another gift. It was getting ridiculous. "We're not in anyway involved!" She couldn't help herself from saying in a rush. She didn't know why she said it, but she felt she had to. It wasn't as though she even cared of what Severus thought of her. He hated her after all. He merely raised an eyebrow and said,

"It is none of my business I assure you." He didn't turn to leave, which surprised Hermione, and her mother's excellent parenting skills shone through as she asked him in. His brows furrowed in an action of confusion but he obliged and stepped in.

"Please sit," Hermione said, always the perfect hostess. "Would you like a cup of tea?" He declined politely but sat precariously on the edge of her mahogany leather couch. She sat opposite him in a small arm chair and placed Ron's gift on the coffee table that seperated them.

"Your rooms are rather magnificent." Severus forced himself to say. She smiled at him warmly, seeing through his stiff manner.

"Yes, aren't they beautiful? I love the colours." She replied humoring him. "You should see the bedroom, the bed is amazing." She said, immediately regretting it as she registered how that would sound to him. He raised an eyebrow, looking slightly shocked. "Well now! I wonder what on Earth that bumbling fool has sent me this time." Hermione exclaimed, trying to erase her previous comment from history itself. She pulled at the strings and ripped away the strings to reveal a cream box with elegant French lettering on the lid. She pulled the lid off gently and pulled through the tissue-covered depths an extremely racy pair of knickers. She blushed immediately, feeling herself turning crimson. "Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed, her embarrassment as clear as day. She shoved it back and hastily replaced the lid. Severus was already standing, a pinch of pink upon his cheeks.

"Good day Miss Granger. I shall see you at dinner I presume." He said before bowing stiffly and letting himself out. Hermione sat, head in hands for quite some time, just letting the waves of mortification roll over her, one by one.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hermione spent the remainder of the day unpacking, occasionally stopping to revel in the glory of her new home. Nowhere felt more like home than Hogwarts to her. After she had set out her things accordingly, she made her way down to her new office. She had been to the Charms office many times, not because she had been sent there for wrong doings of course, but to hand in homework and ask questions and such. She could tell you straight off the fastest way to get to her office from her quarters but she decided to take a more scenic route, enjoying the nostalgic monuments she passed. The girls' toilets where Harry, Ron and herself had defeated the Troll, the girls' toilets where they had brewed the polyjuice potion, which was also where they opened the chamber of secrets. On reflection, Hermione wondered why Harry and Ron had spent so much time with her in girls' toilets. She bumped into Professor Trelawney on the second floor – to her surprise, as she had presumed she would have died from liver disease by now – and had to listen to her babble for quite some time about the position of the stars before she could excuse herself.

The office was boring and plain in comparison to her quarters, but she was sure that with time it would be just as lively and beautiful. She set up a few of her things, put her lesson plans (which she had learned by heart of course) in her desk drawer and exited the room, warding the door behind her. Minerva had explained to her that technically, she was the charms professor, but for the first year, Professor Flitwick would monitor her closely. She was frightfully nervous about the whole ordeal, but she kept her kept her emotions in check when she could.

The halls and corridors were hideously quiet without the students, although Peeves did try and fill the void by pushing things down the stairs. But Hermione wasn't to be spooked, she had spent many nights walking the empty castle with Harry and Ron, and several times alone to go to the library for extra study time. She wandered into the library to kill time before dinner and settled happily on a window ledge with several volumes, undisturbed, as the new librarian had not yet arrived. Hermione pondered as she flicked through the pages about her new life at Hogwarts. She would have to make the new librarian warm up to her, that was for sure, and she was sincerely hoping that she could get along with her colleagues as well as she had when she was a student. There had been quite a few changes to the staff since she had been a student and she made a mental note to ask Minerva about the new teachers. Hagrid had moved to France to live with Madam Maxine (and had had several beautiful – but incredibly large- children) and had been replaced by a gentle man named Stephen; Professor Flitwick had retired and had been replaced by herself, a woman named Mildred Bones had replaced Professor Babbling, Professor Sprout had been replaced by Neville (Hermione was thoroughly relieved to have a friendly face about the school whom she could talk to), a woman named Phaedra Pewit had taken over the Defense Against the Dark Arts position and Severus Snape had returned as potions master, much to everyone's disbelief. Hermione snapped out of her thoughts to view a darkening sky outside and quickly replaced her books, panicking that she make a bad first impression as an educator – being late for her first meal.

Luckily when she reached the great hall, most of the professors had yet to arrive and some were just making themselves seated. Minerva invited Hermione to sit in the empty space next to her with a motion of her hand. Hermione sat herself next to the Headmistress, quietly thankful that she didn't have to deal with working out where to sit. The dinner was as per usual, delicious and the staff all drank to Hermione's new appointment. She sat and talked to Neville when the feast was over, ending up back at his house where Luna, Neville and herself all got very drunk. Neville and Luna had gotten married three years after the war and were still going strong. Luna was working as editor of The Quibbler after her father had passed and they now had a baby on the way. It was a gloriously fun evening.

However, Hermione felt the repercussions in the morning, her head hanging over the toilet bowl. Although the magic in Witches' and Wizards' systems meant that they could tolerate alcohol more, Wizarding alcohol was very strong and Hermione wasn't much a drinker. Finally after 3 hours of sitting dejectedly by the toilet, Hermione headed down to the dungeons. She knocked on Severus Snape's door, staring intently at the floor. She hadn't spoken to him at all at the feast and she was still embarrassed about their previous encounter. The door flung open and Hermione's head snapped up. Severus was standing before her in black pyjama pants and a black knitted sweater. After Hermione had gotten over the initial shock of seeing her former Professor in his pyjamas (also noticing that he looked _very_ good without layers of clothing on), she looked up to see a very angry man.

"Can I help you Ms Granger?" He snapped.

"Oh Professor Snape, I'm terribly sorry to have disturbed you." She said, forgetting herself and turning to head back to her quarters. He caught her arm and she jumped.

"Well you've already disturbed me, so you can at least tell me what you came here for." He growled. He didn't remove his hand from her arm, something that Hermione had not failed to notice. His hand was scorching on her skin, which had cooled considerably in the cold dungeon air.

"Well um, I was wondering if you possibly had a hangover cure lying around that I could have…" Her voice trailed off pathetically towards the end; Severus Snape took all of the Gryffindor out of her. He studied her in slight disbelief. He had never viewed Granger as a real person, one who might get drunk with other people. Further studying of her showed him that she certainly _looked_ like she had a hangover. He normally would have noticed, but Granger somehow managed to slip by him. He had been surprised enough anyway, to see her standing in her tiny camisole and shorts in his doorway. He thought he had been dreaming to be perfectly honest – it was _not_ something he had ever expected to see. Hermione was fidgeting nervously while he processed what she had said. He suddenly rolled his eyes dramatically and dragged her inside his quarters. Hermione couldn't help but notice the little excited but nervous flutter in her stomach as he pulled he into his rooms. He left her standing on the cold stone floors to retrieve the potion she needed. She surveyed her surroundings with a critical eye, noticing his many volumes of books and the scattered potions ingredients upon his workbench in the corner. It looked like mint and unicorn hair, God knows what he'd be doing with that.

Severus was still half asleep and disgruntled as he rummaged through his stores for a hangover cure. A few years ago he had experimented with them, adding and removing ingredients as he wished. The hangover cure they sold on the main markets was nowhere near as effective as his own. The more he thought about it as he tried to find it, the more he considered selling his potions to a wider market. His hand closing around the little vial, he stored those thoughts for another day when there wasn't a scantily clothed woman shivering in his living room. He physically snapped back a little at his own thoughts. Why should he care about what she was wearing?

When he returned to the living room, Hermione was standing where he had left her, fidgeting from foot to foot, trying to ease the chill that had seeped into her from the floor.

"Here," He said, thrusting the vial at her unceremoniously. She took it gratefully and uncorked it, knocking it back immediately. Straight away, Hermione knew that something was wrong. The potion tasted strange as it rushed past her tongue, a taste normally present in a hangover potion. Her throat swelled as the liquid burned on its way down. She sank to her knees as her vision became hazy and her breath came in short gasps, struggling to get past her blocked airway. She just managed to choke out the words,

"Almonds, you asshole." Before collapsing in a heap on Severus' plush green carpet.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN**: Sorry for such a short chapter, I'm just about to write the next one and hopefully I'll upload it tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to the story, it makes me do a little happy dance every time I see someone new has subscribed. But if you want to see me do some **REALLY AWESOME DANCE MOVES**, you should probably review. Not only will I do some **REALLY AWESOME DANCE MOVES** but I'll also be very happy and be encouraged to write more :D

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Chapter 4

Severus looked down in horror at the young woman who was gasping for breath in front of him. Her throat was so closed up that he barely managed to hear the words,

"Almonds, you asshole." Escape her swollen lips. Suddenly much more awake, he cursed loudly as he sprinted into his store cupboard and grabbed a syringe of intramuscular adrenaline, which he had learned was essential in a potions lab some years ago. Turning her on her side, he stabbed the syringe into her thigh viciously, pushing down the plunger with force. He pulled it back out, turning her onto her back and resting his head against her chest, breathing a mammoth sigh of relief to hear her heart pounding away fiercely. He stood and scooped her into his arms, and went to lay her upon his couch but decided against it and brought her to his bed. He laid her on the dusky grey silk sheets, her face and body returning to normal slowly but surely. He sighed and pulled the covers from beneath her to cover her body. Then he pulled up a chair and watched the process of her body returning to normal.

An hour later, her face and physique had returned to their natural shapely state. _Well, she is shapely_, Severus thought. She rolled over to face him.

"What kind of crazed man puts almonds in a hangover cure?" She mumbled, eyes still closed.

Severus scowled at her even though she couldn't see.

"What kind of deranged witch disturbs her colleague at a ridiculous hour, scantily clad and asking for a potion. Then you have a seizure on my floor!" He suddenly fumed. Her eyes snapped open. She glared at him for a moment before closing her eyes again.

"Sorry," She choked out. She didn't want to say sorry, she wanted to yell at him. But her head hurt too much. Severus' head snapped back a little in shock. He hadn't expected an apology. He supposed that he too, should have apologised but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead he just sat staring at her in stony silence. After a few moments she sat up suddenly. She squeaked out an 'ow' before lying back again.

"Why aren't I in the hospital wing?" She mumbled again.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of you Miss – Hermione." He retorted.

"Well obviously not because my head is killing me. Poppy would not approve."

"Impertinent witch." He spat under his breath before standing. As he exited the room to get her a pepper up potion he could have sworn he saw her smirking.

When he returned, she was sitting up, propped against his pillows. He conjured a glass, 2 cups and a steaming pot of tea and set them upon his bedside table. He poured the pepper up into the glass and poured the two cups of tea. He broke the silence by asking her how she took her tea whilst handing her the glass. It radiated heat in her hands. She held it like a small child - with both hands.

"I am sorry, by the way. For being rude." She downed the glass and sighed, closing her eyes as the heat washed over her. She opened her eyes and smiled slightly.

"Better?" Severus inquired.

"Mm. Much. Why did you use almonds, might I ask?" She probed gently.

"It just increases the potency. I suppose at least I know now that you're allergic to almonds." He drawled, "Are there any other allergies you'd like to bring to my attention?" She smiled slightly and looked up from underneath her eyelashes. She whispered out a sweet, little no. She sighed and swung her legs out of the bed.

"I guess I should go then." She said, standing.

"Yes of course, if you feel well enough." She nodded and he escorted her to his door that was concealed by a painting of a centaur. He opened the door for her and she turned towards him.

"Um… thank you. Severus." She said placing a hand on his arm, unsure of what to do.

"You're welcome." He said silkily, trying to work out why she was suddenly anxious.

She scurried down the hallway, only glancing back once to see him staring at her retreating figure through the honey brown of her curls.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I'm sorry, I know it's a suuuper short chapter, but I was kind of stuck and I didn't know where to go with it. But I wanted to upload something, so here it. I hope you enjoy it and constructive feedback is always appreciated (as are fluffy reviews of love because the make me dance).

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story and I hope you continue to enjoy it :DD (also, thanks for making me dance!).

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Chapter 5

Hermione returned to her rooms and sat on the edge of her bed. Physically, she felt fine, but for some reason she felt a bit shaken by their encounter. She felt like a fool, once again, and she had been surprised but more pleased than she probably should have been that she was still in his rooms and not in the hospital wing. Not that she had let that on to him. But just waking up to see him staring so intensely at her made her shiver a little with nerves. Fluttery nerves, nice nerves, not ones that originated from fear. Despite Severus' outward appearance, Hermione found him to be quite a soothing presence when he was not grilling her about how she was stirring her cauldron. She began to giggle at the thought. _She had felt relaxed around Snape_. Suddenly she couldn't stop, she fell back and laughed and laughed and laughed until tears streamed down the sides of her face and her stomach ached.

She sat up and ceased laughing abruptly as a rap on her door reached her ears. She straightened out her clothes and wiped away the tears on her face. She walked to the door as calmly as she could, wondering if it was Severus. She smoothed her hair in a silly, schoolgirl fashion before opening the door. She was disappointed, but not surprised to see that it wasn't Severus, but Filius.

"Oh my dear! I can see that you're not quite appropriately dressed for our meeting!" Filius squeaked, averting his eyes to the floor. Hermione looked down, realizing how scantily clad her pyjamas left her. Her mind wandered back to Severus' rooms and she wondered what he had thought of her pyjamas. He had mentioned how "_scantily clad_" she was_._ She almost giggled again, hysterics (perhaps brought on by so much medication) threatening to take over. But she remained the professional as always.

"Oh goodness! I'm terribly sorry Mister Flitwick, I didn't even notice. She ran over to her bedroom to retrieve a long, wooly dressing gown and covered herself with it. "Come in, please."

Filius ambled over to her armchair and pulled himself on to it. "Now, what was that about 'our meeting'?" She asked whilst positioning herself on the couch comfortably.

"Did you not receive my owl this morning? I sent it quite early." He asked; his face contorted with concern.

"Um… no, I wasn't in my rooms this morning." She said tentatively, hoping he wouldn't ask where she had been. It would sound bad.

"Well were you at such an early hour?" He pried good-naturedly.

"I was in Severus' quarters." She began.

"Well, I see." Filius suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"No, Filius, it's not what you think!" She started again. But he was already half way to the door. "He was just helping me get over my hangover!" She doubted that he heard her, the door shutting quietly behind him. She sunk back into the couch. Great. She looked terrible in Filius' eyes now - she knew it. It was a ridiculous conclusion to come to anyway! She wished that she hadn't wanted that to be very much the conclusion…


End file.
